Sleep and relaxation are critical to our wellness and happiness, yet a new survey shows a record number of Americans aren't getting the sleep they need.
According to a new Gallup poll, a majority of U.S. adults, 57%, say they would feel better if they got more sleep, while 42% say they get as much sleep as they need.
Gallup has been asking Americans about their quality of sleep since 2001, and this is the first time that a majority of adults have reported not getting enough sleep. It's also nearly a reversal of the figures last measured in 2013, when 56% of Americans got the sleep they needed and 43% did not.
"Americans are sleeping less and are less satisfied with the amount they sleep. Reports of frequently feeling stressed are also on the rise," Gallup writers Sarah Fioroni and Dan Foy noted in an article outlining the findings. "The impact of both of these trends on Americans' health could be substantial."
Gallup says the data shows women are consistently less likely than men to report getting enough sleep, with 36% of women versus 48% of men saying they get the sleep they need.
Younger women are the least likely group to report getting adequate sleep, at 27%, according to the poll. That's compared to older men, the most likely group to report getting they sleep they need, at 51%.
The poll also notes that Americans are more stressed today than three decades ago, which could be driving the downward trends in sleep.
"The most recent data show that nearly half of all Americans, 49%, report frequently experiencing stress, up 16 points over the past two decades and the highest in Gallup's trend to date," Fioroni and Foy wrote.
Just as with sleep, Gallup says there continues to be a gap in stress levels between women and men, with 53% of women versus 45% of men saying they frequently experience stress.
Younger women are the most likely group to report frequent stress, at 69%, according to the poll. That's compared to the least likely group, older men, at 34%.
The findings are from a survey conducted in Dec. 2023.
